GPs to take on more responsibility

The government wants to hand more power back to GPs and give them responsibility for much of the NHS budget in England.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley said that GPs, rather than primary care trusts, would be able to make decisions about services such as out-of-hours care.

Services will become more joined-up, management costs will be reduced and layers of bureaucracy will be stripped away.

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Patients will also be given more choice and control, including over which GP practice they register with and which consultant-led teams they are treated by.

Mr Lansley said that the NHS is a 'priority for reform' and that resources will be used more effectively in future.

'With patients empowered to share in decisions about their care, with professionals free to tailor services around their patients and with a relentless focus on continuously improving results, I am confident that together we can deliver the efficiency and the improvement in quality that is required to make the NHS a truly world-class service,' he claimed.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association Council, said that the proposals would have a 'substantial' impact on the NHS and patients.

He noted that doctors are 'ideally placed to help determine the health needs of their local population', but emphasised that changes must be made in consultation with clinicians to ensure there is no disruption to patient services.

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